It's looking less and less likely James Harrison will have any kind of role with the Steelers this season.
A month ago, outside linebackers coach Joey Porter said at the bye that the Steelers were saving Harrison for when the weather got colder and opponents would come at the Steelers trying to run the ball. Since then, Harrison has not been active for a game and has missed practice time with back and knee injuries. The knee issue arose this week, though he was doing something he called Sumo deadlifts on his Instagram page Wednesday morning.
If the Steelers are, in fact, saving him for a team looking to come in and run the ball against them, next week's game against Baltimore would seem to be the one.
But Harrison has played just 29 snaps this season, the last coming when he played seven snaps against the Cincinnati Bengals Oct. 22 in a 29-14 victory. All seven of Harrison's snaps in that game came when the Bengals had driven inside the Pittsburgh 10 and Cincinnati scored on both of those drives.
Having now had Harrison inactive for more than a month would not seem to be a good way to have him ready to contribute in any way moving forward, unless the Steelers have an injury at linebacker.
Since Harrison isn't going to play any special teams, it's tough to give him a helmet on game day to play just a handful of snaps. And the Steelers are asking their outside linebackers to drop into coverage more often, which doesn't suit Harrison, either.
• Artie Burns was blamed by many for blowing the coverage that led to a 39-yard touchdown catch by Randall Cobb in last week's 31-28 win over Green Bay. But I've been told the player who actually blew the coverage was T.J. Watt, who was supposed to stick with Cobb in that situation. That doesn't seem to be a great plan, but the Steelers were figuring on the pressure getting to Brett Hundley before Cobb got deep on Watt.
• The Steelers have been very pleased with Martavis Bryant since his one-game suspension. He's been fully engaged at practice and volunteered to return kicks last week when JuJu Smith-Schuster was out with a hamstring injury. Bryant still hasn't been the big-play receiver he was early in his career, but he's making some important catches, which is what the Steelers need. His 38-yard kickoff return last week, by the way, was the long for the Steelers this season.
FROM MATT GAJTKA
in Buffalo, N.Y.
• With Ian Cole back and paired with Justin Schultz during drills in Toronto on Thursday, anyone who thought Cole's days in Pittsburgh were dwindling might have to reconsider. While it's clear that Cole was made available to rival general managers, I've come to believe Jim Rutherford didn't order the defenseman to be scratched to merely protect his asset. Rather, the benching of Cole was primarily triggered by a good old-fashioned coach's decision. No reports were "made up," to refute Mike Sullivan's claim this week, but this matter is complex. My best guess: Cole's pending free agency, combined with his value, combined with his on-the-outs status made for a volatile situation and information leaking.
• In speaking with some folks who cover Mike Babcock in his current role as Maple Leafs coach, they asserted that Babcock is a fan of Riley Sheahan and remains high on the center's offensive ability, despite his points drying up after Babcock left Detroit. In checking Sheahan's zone starts under Babcock, he was deployed in more attack situations in his first two seasons, when he averaged 0.49 points per game. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, when he began being used as a 'defensive' center, Sheahan has been at 0.24 per game.
• Chris Bradford wrote up some options should Rutherford pursue a veteran backup goalie in Matt Murray's absence. The scuttlebutt I was hearing north of the border centered around some of those options -- Andrew Hammond and the Leafs' AHL tandem of Calvin Pickard and Garret Sparks -- plus Winnipeg's Michael Hutchinson. Sparks actually played Wednesday night in Toronto, so perhaps Rutherford stole away from the Hall of Fame ceremony to take a look in person.
FROM LANCE LYSOWSKI
at Highmark Stadium
• Francisco Cervelli had to plead with his doctor to join Sean Rodriguez, team interpreter Mike Gonzalez and Pirates officials for the hurricane relief trip to Puerto Rico in October. According to multiple sources, Cervelli’s leg began to swell prior to the trip after he underwent a minor surgical procedure during the final week of the season to remove a cyst.
Cervelli, who was limited to 81 games because of four stints on the disabled list, was only allowed to go on the trip because he agreed to go for only the first day, returning home with Bob Nutting and Frank Coonelly. Sources confirmed the swelling dissipated upon Cervelli’s return, and he has made a full recovery.
• The Pirates aren’t going to land Shohei Ohtani, regardless of what Neal Huntington says publicly. Sure, they’re going to pursue him the same way every other team in Major League Baseball is. But Neal Huntington is still non-committal on keeping Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole for 2018 — two players who would need to be part of a sales pitch to Ohtani. Plus, Ohtani is going to want to play in a bigger market where endorsements are readily available.
FROM CHRIS MUELLER
at the A.J. Palumbo Center
• I've checked in on Duquesne's injury situation over the last week in anticipation of the City Game tonight. Forwards Marko Krivacevic and Chas Brown are both ruled out. Brown hasn't suited up this season due to a stress fracture in his right foot, but he's been incorporated back into a practice routine and could play against Pitt if it were a matter of more importance. In Keith Dambrot's line of thinking, there's no sense in risking further injury now when the Dukes will surely need Brown – a 6-9 forward – during Atlantic 10 play. Tarin James (ankle) and Eric James (knee) are both expected to be active, but likely in limited roles. I would be surprised if Smith plays more than 20-22 minutes. He practiced on Wednesday with his ankle heavily wrapped.
